long post...

when I owned my business I had a web site- I designed a forum for customers who wanted to ask questions about their tractors, snow blowers or anything engine related...

I had one customer- complaining about his 30 year old B&S lawn mower not running- he put in a repair order. I informed him my flat rate for diag & repair was $75hr + parts and $45 for just an on-site diag and it might not be worth the repair (could buy a new push mower at HD for $125!)... He said he just wanted it fixed as long as the motor didn't need rebuilding... so I arrived, checked it out, replaced the carb (one piece plastic) for $35, put fresh gas in the tank and started it right up- bill came to about $115.

I charged him the one hour it took me to R&R the carb, the price for the carb and tax- he paid with his mastercard... he called me that night saying I ripped him off because I didn't sharpen & balance the blade and change the oil, plug & filter!!!

I informed him an onsite tune-up would cost another $55- and that was not included in the repair costs.

I offered to do the tune up for the cost of parts only ($30) - he cursed me out and hung up the phone.

Couple days later he started contacting other customers who had posted questions on my site forum- trying to get people to agree with him about being ripped off- I deleted his posts and told him to not return.

two weeks later I noticed my business account had a chargeback for the $115

I sent the cutomer another invoice, this time I added $25 for the fee (I used quick books) and told him if he didn't pay there would be a small claim involved with added fees-

He then went and complained to the BBB thatI was running a scam!!! I wasn't a BBB member-

To make this long story short- I did hit him with a small claim of $225 AND a tresspass warrant to prevent him from contacting my customers via my web site. I ended up collecting the $115 + $40 court fee.

That's just one example of how a dumb **** customer can cause so much grief-

don't even ask me about the customer who hired me to powerwash his 5000sf house, deck & pool.... and then refused to pay me the $800 because I didn't use a hand brush before powerwashing...

the internet can really help a business secure cash flow and advertise- but just as quickly take your business out! I would ask satisfied customers for a short written statment on how they liked my service- then I would include their statement on the back of my bulk mail brochures... much better then dealing with customer reviews on a social network. I advertised to about 15 towns through val-pak (reached 50,000 potential customers), the yellow pages, local papers and had a bulk mail permit- I'd hit about 2500 homes a month with direct mail flyers during the spring / summer season- The bulk mail permit was the best (and a fraction of the cost of val-pak)- and returned a good base of customers. val-pak & the local papers were hit or miss- usually miss - the yellow pages we a sure bet because people who are hitting the y.pages have already decided they needed service, all I had to do was rope'em in (answer my cell phone). All other types of advertising you just hoped people would remember you when they needed service

feel free to post my experience if you like...

 

That sucks

 

I made an account when one of my fishing forums closed but the members went to face book. Its worthless if you ask me. I'll email someone if I've got something to say.

 

Too dry and they have burn bans. I knew saving that would come in handy.

I'm sure there's kids around here that wouldn't even know how that phone worked.

 

The bottom line to FB is how you use it and how you control it.

FB is a great social media.

I was managing a business prior internet days and I had an inbreed customer who decided he was going to picket my business.

Every customer that came in walked past him holding up his sign stating that we had screwed him and we were not a trust worthy business. We were a very well respected business and I even had customers confront him and he never convinced one of them to not come in.

Some things never change, only their tools. I don't think it's the tools fault.

The guy was a dork. I had the cafe a few doors down take him hot coffee in the morning and they took him lunch in the afternoon. He thought that was wonderful until the second day when they told I was the one buying his lunch!! WOW!!! Did that ever **** him off.

 

Like the Chevrolet ad on FFA magazine,

"Not Every Freind is on FaceBook."

 

I will have to say that Facebook and twitter whatever else there is, is the way of the future. There are so many companies and places that now have pages and there coupons and discounts though these that its hard not to have one. I mean just alone we have a riders page on facebook of over 50 guys that I ride with all the time, we set up weekend trips, day trips, dyno runs, whatever we got going on with each other.

 

 

TIPPY I think you need to take a pill and chill out . Your all wound up